SOCIAL GROUP

WORK
2
 3

SOCIAL WORK
▸ Social Work as a profession is concerned with
the person-in-his life situation or, more
specifically the individual’s social functioning.
▸ Problems in social functioning occur when the
demands of a role do not match a person
capacities; or when one’s role performance is in
conflict with those others.
▸ The goal of Social Work is the “enhancement of
social functioning whenever the need for such
is either socially or individually perceived.
 4

THREE GENERAL FUNCTIONS OF SOCIAL WORK:

▸ Preventive- which is concerned with
identifying and dealing with potential
areas of disequilibrium between persons
and environment
▸ Remedial- including rehabilitative which
aims to assist people in identifying and
resolving problems that have resulted
from the disequilibrium between
themselves and their environment.
 5

THREE GENERAL FUNCTIONS OF SOCIAL WORK:

▸ Developmental- which aims to seek out,

identify and strengthen the maximum
potential in individuals, groups and
communities, frequently through the
provision of individual and social
resources.
6

SOCIAL WORK
▸ The philosophy or basic belief of Social Work
is that every human being has worth (halaga)
and dignity (pagkatao).
▸ Social Work adheres to many values “ but the
ultimate value of the profession rests on the
conviction that is good and desirable for
every human being to fulfill his potential, to
realize himself, and to balance this with equal
efforts to help others do the same.
7

SOCIAL WORK
▸ Ethics- is the science that is concerned with
morals and right conduct.
▸ Professional Ethics- is the system of ethical
principles and rules of conduct which, in
social work, are the concrete expression of its
philosophy, values and principles that have
just been described.
8

PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL WORK:

❑ Acceptance
❑ Participation
❑ Self-determination
❑ Individualization
❑ Confidentiality
❑ Worker self-awareness
❑ Purposeful relationship
9

GROUP
 GROUP
10

▸ A group is “atleast two people, but usually more,

gathered with common purposes or like interests
in a cognitive, affective, and social interchange in
single or repeated encounters.
▸ A simple collection of people is not a group.
▸ A group is not static, but a constantly moving and
changing small system. It has life of its own. It
goes through different phases each of which has
certain dynamics that a practitioner
11

HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND
 Let’s go back into History
Born in Cedarville, Illinois, on September 6,
1860,
graduated from Rockford Female Seminary in
1881,
Jane Addams founded, with Ellen Gates Starr, the
world famous social settlement Hull-House on
Chicago's Near West Side in 1889.
From Hull-House, where she lived and worked
until her death in 1935, Jane Addams built her
reputation as the country's most prominent
woman through her writing, settlement work, and
international efforts for peace.
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.

Jane Addams- 1860- 1935

Hull House in Chicago
Hull House, one of the first social
settlements in North America.

It was founded in Chicago in 1889 when Jane

Addams and Ellen Gates Starr rented an
abandoned residence at 800 South Halsted Street
that had been built by Charles G. Hull in 1856.

Twelve large buildings were added from year to

year until Hull House covered half a city block
and included a nearby playground and a large
camp in Wisconsin.
Hull House in Chicago
While traveling in Europe, Addams
visited Toynbee Hall, a pioneer settlement
founded by Canon Samuel A.
Barnett in London’s impoverished East End.

Finding there a group of university

undergraduate residents sharing
companionship and working for social reform,
she and Starr decided to establish such a
settlement in a comparable district in Chicago.
Hull House in Chicago
After raising enough funds to rent part of the Hull
Mansion, Addams and Starr set out to aid the needy
immigrants in the Halsted Street area. Hull House
opened as a kindergarten but soon expanded to
include a day nursery and an infancy care center.

Eventually its educational facilities provided

secondary and college-level extension classes as
well as evening classes on civil rights and civic
duties. Through increased donations more buildings
were purchased, and Hull House became a complex,
containing a gymnasium, social and cooperative
clubs, shops, housing for children, and playgrounds.
 Hull House in Chicago
Addams, Starr, and other Hull House associates
were instrumental in the enactment of state child
labour laws and in the establishment of juvenile
courts and juvenile protection agencies.

In addition, they assisted in the development of

local trade union organizations, social welfare
programs, and adult education classes. They also
contributed to the woman suffrage and the
international peace movements.

The women who

welcomed immigrants
Historical Background: Philippines
Before the 60s: Socialization Goals

The 60s: Prevention, Treatment and

Developmental Goals

The 70s:Emphasizing Developmental Goals

Present Scene
 Before the Sixties: Socialization Goals
Socio-civic movements during the American colonial rule (1898-1946)
YMCA (1911)
YWCA (1926)
Boy Scouts of the Philippines (1936)

They paved the way for the establishment of agencies that used groups for Personality
development and character building through leisure or recreational activities- arts, crafts, camping
sports

Leadership in these groups was initially carried out by volunteers until these movements moved
into the training of workers along the different agencies’ specific programs.

Socialization was the main goal of group-serving social agencies during their first decades in the
country. It s the process by which people selectively acquire the values and attitudes of the groups
of which they are part.
Groups were used for the development of the individual through training in social skills and inculcating social values.
Before the Sixties: Socialization Goals
Philippine Youth Welfare Coordinating Council using groups through leadership
and skills training for out-of-school youth.

Foster Parents Plan Inc. also began organizing mothers groups to promote
responsible parenthood , vocational efficiency, and citizenship training.

from 1958 to 1959, the Philippine Mental Health Association already had a
program for the prevention of juvenile delinquency in selected communities in the
city of Manila.
TLM as her first job implemented parent-education programs that utilized skits and drama
presentations related to problems of delinquency

During the 50’s- organizing groups for socialization goals ; not anymore by way of
recreational activities only
The Sixties: Prevention, Treatment
and Developmental Goals
Special Child Study Center, Inc., a mental health agency, organized parents’
groups to help participants to understand, accept, and deal with their children’s
conditions

Philippine Mental Health Association conducted group therapy sessions, including

the use of psycho-drama with emotionally disturbed patients in its Day Care Center.

A great deal of group work was also undertaken in the field of government housing
and resettlement during the sixties. Much of the work involved efforts of social
workers in the (then) Department of Social Welfare.
Tenement housing community center in Metro Manila- Social Workers formed TENANT’S
ASSOCIATION
 The Sixties: Prevention, Treatment
and Developmental Goals
TENANT’S ASSOCIATION
DEVELOPMENTAL GROUPWORK-
member’s identified common problems and formed small groups

HOUSEHOLD MOTHER’S
OSY GROUP HEAD’S GROUP
GROUP

Problems of idleness, Address concerns relating

unemployment, lack of Problems of water supply to child care, household
skills and gang wars and garbage disposal management and family
among themselves planning
 The Sixties: Prevention, Treatment
and Developmental Goals
Contribution of some schools of social work in the development of social group
work

UP Graduate UP’s Department of Social

Social Work Work (now College of
Students Social Work and
Community Development)
Developmental Goals- and St. Luke’s Hospital
Government community
centers Philippine School of Social
Work (Philippine Women’s
University) and Philippine Preventive and Developmental
Youth Welfare Coordinating Goals with poverty stricken
Council families on out-patient basis and
therapeutic goals in hospital’s
psychiatric wards
Youth groups for socialization
and developmental goals
 The Seventies: Emphasizing
Developmental Goals
The Department of Social Welfare (which in 1976 had become, the Department of
Social Services and Development) undertook developmental programs and services for
the bottom 30-percent of the country’s population.

emphasis on developmental social welfare was spurred by the United Nations’

declaration of the First Developmental Decade in the sixties and the Second
Developmental Decade in the seventies.

Social Workers implemented self-employment assistance, leadership training, day care,

responsible parenthood and family life education programs.

The “barangay approach” facilitated these efforts, i.e., the use of the existing political
structure, the BARANGAY, as the worker’s point of entry and the basis for problem
identification and prioritizing.
 The Seventies: Emphasizing
Developmental Goals
Social Workers in juvenile or Social Workers in orphanages
domestic relations courts

used groups to help legal offenders with group provided their wards with group experiences
experiences aimed at socialization and/or for socialization purposes
resocialization

declaration of Martial Law (1972 to

1981)

provoked a great deal aimed at making many rural and Social Workers helped people organize and
of urban poor citizens realize that use themselves as the major resource. Efforts
consciousness-raising many of their problems were due to alone this line again invariably engaged social
efforts deficiencies in their social workers in work with small groups- referred to
situations as Community Group Work
 The Present Scene
emphasizes human and community resource mobilization.

Developmental Purpose Example: livelihood programs – leadership training, small-scale

business management
day care centers- effectiving parenting, household management,
personal enhancement

organizing groups that are intended primarily to help the members to

Developmental and acquire the values, attitudes and norms of the society of which they
Socialization Purpose are a part.
Example: street children and runaways – values formation
Probation and correctional institutions: learning or re-learning of
acceptable ways of behaving

focuses on the use of the small group to held individuals who have a
Treatment Purpose problem or breakdown in their social functioning.
Example: victims of natural disasters, child abuse, adult sexual abuse,
mentally ill, physically handicapped, patients undergoing kindey
dialysis
Social Work Practice with Groups

How groups effect change by Dorwin Cartwright

 USES OF GROUPS: DORWIN CARTWRIGHT
GROUP AS:

AGENT OF
CHANGE MEDIUM OF
TARGET OF
CHANGE
CHANGE
Target: social environment
Target: individual
Target: group group efforts aim to modify or redirect member
features/forces in its societal environment which
the group as a whole or makes demands, creates pressures and impose
source of influence :
aspects/ conditions of constraints on the group, thus, adversely affecting group
the group may have to its development and goal achievement
be changed in order to Social Worker
change individual The group is not the focus of desired change guides group
members (size,
composition, techniques: information dessimination, persuasion, processes to achieve
climate, structure, negotiation, bargaining, pressure, confrontation, goals
etc.) etc.
Social Work Practice with Groups

The Phases in Group Development

 Phases in Group Development
Allows the worker to recognize, understand, and guide the phases from the
beginning to end of the group’s functioning and existence.

For the worker to identify actual stage where the group is when she enters the
scene to provide her with diagnostic clues to more effective work with the
group.

To anticipate or predict certain events that can occur within the group and
therefore helps her deal with them

Help the worker to avoid getting confused and feeling insecure with the
appearance of certain phenomena.
 PHASES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT
MARGARET E. HARTFORD

I. Pre-Group Phase
A. Private Pre-group Phase II. Group Formation Phase
B. Public Pre-group Phase
C. Convening Phase
III. Integration,
Disintegration,
Reintegration Phase

V.Termination Phase
A. Pre-termination Phase IV. Group Functioning and
B. Termination Maintenance Phase
c. Post-termination
 I. THE PRE-GROUP PHASE
Is what happens and what the worker does before a group is actually organized

PRIVATE
PRE-GROUP
PHASE

It is the period when an idea The group does not yet exist
occurs to one or more and any ideas or plans
persons to organize a group pertaining to are still in the
for some purpose. mind of the organizer.
 I. THE PRE-GROUP PHASE
Is what happens and what the worker does before a group is actually organized

PUBLIC
PRE-GROUP
PHASE

Followed by a decision to have a group and Purpose and time frame of the program and the criteria
this decision is shared with others. for a group composition are already defined at this stage by
the social agency.
Announcements are made, verbally or in
Pre-group and or intake interviews are conducted.
writing.
Initial Stage- Sue Henry- no group dynamics yet.
Fliers are sometimes sent to parties perceived “Embryonic group will be affected by the worker’s actions in
as likely to be interested in the endeavor, identifying the potential cast of characters and in projecting
including possible sources of referral what the group will be like and how it can be moved toward
attainment of its goals.
 I. THE PRE-GROUP PHASE
Is what happens and what the worker does before a group is actually organizes

CONVENING
PHASE

Prospective members meet for the first time. The worker should assume the leading role during this phase.

Varied behaviors may be observed such as She uses appropriate activities to connect to each other to
facilitate the group towards group formation.
restlessness, talkativeness, tension, and
withdrawal as the participants judge each
The worker also answers questions and clarifies
other. expectations while honoring their struggle about joining the
group or not by pointing out what positive consequences or
Feelings of resistance and ambivalence about gains can be result from group membership.
themselves are natural during this phase.
34
FIVE PHASES IN GROUP DEVELOPMENT
1. The Pre-Group Phase- is what happens and what the worker
does before a group is actually organized. Under this phase
are:
1.1 The Private Pre-Group Phase- the period when an idea occurs
to one or more person to organize a group for some purpose.
The group does not yet exist and any ideas or plans pertaining to it
are still in the mind of the organizer.
1.2 The Public Pre-Group Phase- this is where announcements are
made, verbally or in writing.
35
FIVE PHASES IN GROUP DEVELOPMENT

Sue Henry, refer to these two phases as the “Initial

Stage” who contends that while there may be no
dynamics yet at this time, “the embryonic group will be
affected by the worker’s actions in identifying the
potential cast of characters and in projecting what the
group will like and how it can be moved toward
attainment of its goals”.
36
FIVE PHASES IN GROUP DEVELOPMENT
1.3 the Convening Phase- is when the prospective members, or some of them,
meet for the first time. Hartford contends that they are still just an aggregate
but the potential for becoming a group begins to materialize. The members at
this time are sizing up the situation in terms of whether or not their expectations
are going to be met. They engage in social rituals and amenities and varied
behaviors may be observed such as restlessness, talkativeness, tension, and
withdrawal as the participants judge each other
▸ Feelings of resistance and ambivalence about committing themselves are
natural during this phase and these feelings can recur at other periods of
their membership.
▸ The worker usually assumes a leading role during this phase.
 PHASES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT
MARGARET E. HARTFORD

I. Pre-Group Phase
A. Private Pre-group Phase II. Group Formation Phase
B. Public Pre-group Phase
C. Convening Phase
III. Integration,
Disintegration,
Reintegration Phase

V.Termination Phase IV. Group Functioning and

A. Pre-termination Phase Maintenance Phase
B. Termination
II. GROUP FORMATION PHASE
Period when the group gets organized.

The goals and norms evolve and the group roles begins to develop during this phase.

Interpersonal ties begin to be evident and tries to be influenced or influenced by

other members

Social worker takes the lead role in promoting communication and interaction and
uses appropriate program media responsive to the needs of the group.

MAJOR AIM: help members to develop sense of belongingness to the group

Some members are testing the worker- her firmness, patience, neutrality
 PHASES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT
MARGARET E. HARTFORD

I. Pre-Group Phase
A. Private Pre-group Phase II. Group Formation Phase
B. Public Pre-group Phase
C. Convening Phase
III. Integration,
Disintegration,
Reintegration Phase

V.Termination Phase
IV. Group Functioning and
A. Pre-termination Phase
Maintenance Phase
B. Termination
c. Post-termination
 III. INTEGRATION, DISINTEGRATION, REINTEGRATION PHASE

INTEGRATIO
N PHASE

A sense of group bond or we-feeling begins to become

apparent.

Goal- directed activities engaged the members since by

this time group goals shall have been clarified.

Role and status structure begins to emerge

Emotional leaders can be already identified.

Members show a great deal of enthusiasm for the

group’s activities.
III. INTEGRATION, DISINTEGRATION, REINTEGRATION PHASE

DISINTEGRATI
ON PHASE

Disagreement on issues and interpersonal problems occur.

Members openly express anger, frustration or hostility and withdraw from participation.

Tuckman- STORMING PHASE- appearance of conflict around interpersonal issues and expressed
resistance to group influence and task requirements.

Attribute the conflicts to issues of leadership, decision-making, status and control (Garland, Jones
and Kolodny call this the Power and Control” Phase)

The worker must bring such conflicts into open discussion and resolution. Restate the goals,
modify the structure, establish new rules for operating, define or modify norms and redefine
tasks. (GROUP AS THE TARGET OF CHANGE)
III. INTEGRATION, DISINTEGRATION, REINTEGRATION PHASE

REINTEGRATI
ON PHASE

Higher level of integration and interdependence and cooperation among members.

More stable relationships and group structure

Greater influence of the group upon the members, clearer norms

State of equilibrium

Some individuals may be terminated to save the group from total disintegration as they may be
blocking the group’s development, cannot relate with other group members or simply they do not fit
the group.

Reason of the decision must be explained to them as well as to the group.

43
FIVE PHASES IN GROUP DEVELOPMENT
3. The Group Integration, Disintegration or Reintegration Phase
▸ After the group appears to have been formed, the group now
proceeds about its work
▸ Interpersonal ties increase and sense of group bond or the “we
feeling” begins to become apparent.
▸ Goal-directed activities engage the members since by this time
the group goals shall have been clarified
▸ Colodny calls this the “power and control” phase
 PHASES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT
MARGARET E. HARTFORD

I. Pre-Group Phase
A. Private Pre-group Phase II. Group Formation Phase
B. Public Pre-group Phase
C. Convening Phase
III. Integration,
Disintegration,
Reintegration Phase

V.Termination Phase
IV. Group Functioning and
A. Pre-termination Phase
Maintenance Phase
B. Termination
c. Post-termination
IV. GROUP FUNCTIONING AND MAINTENANCE PHASE
Sarry and Galinsky- “Maturation Phase”

Garland, Jones and Kolodny- “Differentiation Phase”

Northern- “Problem-solving and Stabilization”

Bales – social emotional qualities of giving support and helping emerge at this phase.

Coyle – emergence of group culture (ethical system, artifacts, etiquette, social contract

Berne – group pursues the fulfillment of purpose that may lead to change in structure and activity.

Schutz – period of affection, emotional integration, lowering of defenses and increase in sharing

Thelen – consolidation and harmony

Tuckman – norming and performing

IV. GROUP FUNCTIONING AND MAINTENANCE PHASE
Hartford - Stabilization of leader-follower patterns and the firming of the status of hierarchy based on
skills

Worker moves into less central role, thus maximizing the group’s functioning in its own behalf.

The group with the help of the worker implements its plans in order to achieve the defined goals.

Sense of “groupness” is developed during this phase. Members show concern for other group members.

More group harmony in case of conflicts. Group is now able to deal with them in a more mature and
acceptable way.

Group cohesion or attractiveness is apparent. Group is not confronted by problems of withdrawal,

poor attendance, or habitual tardiness by members.

Group is in high level of functioning and expected to achieve its goals.

 PHASES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT
MARGARET E. HARTFORD

I. Pre-Group Phase
A. Private Pre-group Phase II. Group Formation Phase
B. Public Pre-group Phase
C. Convening Phase
III. Integration,
Disintegration,
Reintegration Phase

V.Termination Phase
IV. Group Functioning and
A. Pre-termination Phase
Maintenance Phase
B. Termination
c. Post-termination
 V. TERMINATION PHASE

Open Group- members enter and Closed Group- members begin and
leave at different times, for end their relationship at the same
different reasons. time

POST-
PRE-TERMIN TERMINATION
TERMINATION
ATION PHASE PHASE
PHASE

Period after the group ceases to

Actual ending; function
Group is
prepared for Involves plan to continue to
Group’s last
imminent meet as a group if desired.
meeting.
ending
Includes follow-up
 V. TERMINATION PHASE

Preparation for termination involves helping the group or the individual member get used to
the idea that the end to the group’s life or his/her membership in its forthcoming.

Discuss the reality of termination during the initial or formation phase.

Review the experiences in the group

Evaluate the gains made on both individual and group levels.

Group members be given the chance to talk about the ending. (positive and negative feelings
that needs to be resolved)

SUE HENRY- central theme of this phase is that or MOURNING and TIME has to be made
to allow the handling of people’s feelings.
50
51

USES OF
GROUP
 52

USES OF GROUPS (MARGARET HARTFORD)

1. For effect on participants:

Socialization-Resocialization
-acquiring or changing concept of self,
identity, motivation, attitude formation and
change, formation and modification of values
and beliefs, behavioral change, achieving a
sense of belonging and support, and
education
53

USES OF GROUPS (MARGARET HARTFORD)

2. For collective problem-solving

-work on common or joint tasks,
particularly in the area of ideas, group
thinking, cognitive, emotional or social, or
individual, group, or social situation.
54

USES OF GROUPS (MARGARET HARTFORD)

3. For change in the social situation or
conditions outside the group
-modification of the institution or
social system within the group exists or
of the social situation- including the
community or society- through the
pressure, dissemination of information,
or organization; modification of attitudes
of outsiders.
55

PHASES OF
GROUP
DEVELOPMENT
56 PHASES IN GROUP DEVELOPMENT
57

THEORETICAL
MODEL/
APPROACHES
THE DEVELOPMENTAL SOCIAL WORK- EMMANUEL TROPP GAVGARCIA

- Thrust toward the developmental social welfare which started with Sixties (60s) advocated by
United Nations (the First Developmental Decade – 1960s)

- WEBSTER – DEVELOPMENT- causing something to unfold, to grow, to change for the better, to
be realized
- -regards a certain entity as being endowed with certain potentials which
society should discover and maximize

- People are not seen as being sick or healthy, but on a scale ranging from socially functional
(adequate) to dysfunctional (inadequate) to eufunctional (good functioning).. Continually able
to move up this scale in a life-long developmental process of self-realization.

- Practitioner who tries to help people who are striving for self-realization is concerned with tapping
the vast unused potential that resides within all people which is generally used only fractionally-
in the spheres of physical, intellectual, aesthetic, and interpersonal development, of which the last
direct concern of social work

- Two essential features of developmental social wok with groups as the focus of concern:
1. Recognition of the human being as the main resource to be utilized
2. interpersonal relationships, more specifically social role performance
THE DEVELOPMENTAL SOCIAL WORK- EMMANUEL TROPP GAVGARCIA

THREE MAJOR THEMES

HUMANISTIC View of human being by another
Describes how the worker functions and relates with the group
Worker respects the group’s common purpose and integrity as a group
Deals with the members for what they are and what they do
Respects member-to-member helping phenomenon
Worker is an enabler, shows peoples ability to cope with their common task
Workers open himself with authenticity, mutuality, humility, respect, empathy, compassion, involvement,
support, expectation and assistance

PHENOMENOLOGICAL What is happening in the present (in the group or outside or both)
Reality-oriented, focusing on current group and individual behavior rather on the past personality
diagnosis and interpretations of behavior

DEVELOPMENTAL Sees people as being able to move forward in a life-long process of self-realization or fulfillment of
potential in social functioning
Sharp contrast with treatment orientation
Sees people as people, all of whom faces difficult developmental stages, life situations, challenges,
stresses, and crises with which they must cope
 THE DEVELOPMENTAL SOCIAL WORK- EMMANUEL TROPP GAVGARCIA

8 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH

1. Specific kinds of group experiences are viewed as most effective in the attainment of enhanced social
functioning
- content of group experience called PROGRAM emanates from the group function called functional modes:
- (a) the counseling group to discuss common life situations or common concerns
- (b) the activity group to pursue common interest
- (c) the action group, to effect some improvement in the social environment

2. Common-goal groups- goal which members share for the group goal-achieving process and with each other in relation
to the process
-viewed as the kinds of experiences that are most productive of enhanced social functioning

- the GOAL is the specific task or short –term goal agreed upon for a specific group session or
series of sessions
3. The common goal may take the form of a common concern or common interest or common life situation, each
of which results in a peer relationship among members.

4. The effectiveness of the group goal achieving process is the primary target for both the members and the worker.
- worker’s skillful guidance of the group towards the desirable structure and processes relating to the group is considered
crucial
 THE DEVELOPMENTAL SOCIAL WORK- EMMANUEL TROPP GAVGARCIA

8 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH

5. The group members achieve different individual gains and social growth within the context of the group goal achieving
process.
- 4 Basic Purposive Processes
1. release of feelings- anger, fear, guilt, and affection (block the task performance if not unburdened
2. support- receiving of acceptance and affection through belonging and a group recognition of self-expression
translated into achievement(tapping of further strengths resulting to gains in self-esteem)
3. reality orientation – seeing others in the similar situations, seeing how they handle themselves, seeing how
others see oneself, each member can gain a clearer orientation to his own behavior among peers
4. self-appraisal which involves attaining from all the foregoing a clearer perspective of one’s self and others,
new options for handling situations, increased ability to make judgements, more responsible taking hold of one’s own life in
relation to the reasons being in the group

6. The group becomes the medium for the member’s actions for the perception of each other’s action and for the worker’s
perception of both.
- creates a base for commonly perceived behavior to which member and worker can relate to their perceptions, evaluations
and actions

7. The group-goal achieving process is carried out on the basis of open agreements, openly arrived and openly pursued
-mutuality of understanding and effort between member and worker

8. The group is essentially self-directing

- no intention to change anyone, each member has the right to decide how to lead his life and benefit or suffer from the
consequences
THE HELPING PROCESS IN THE DEVELOPMENTAL SOCIAL WORK
GAVGARCIA
BEGINNING MIDDLE ENDING
MEMBERS Become oriented to the More open expression by members Shows varying degrees of task
new situation Increasing understanding and accomplishment
Understand reason(s) for acceptance of values of group Inventory gains from group experience
group membership and experience by member Show varying levels of satisfaction from
work done Roles and statuses evolve accomplishment
Experience some doubts Group demonstrates greater Show concern/anxiety about ending group
or enthusiasm about stability and cohesiveness membership and being separated from
membership Group is working towards goal members, worker, and agency
achievement Accept reality of ending group experience

WORKER Clarifies purpose and Guides toward its defined goals Helps group with task accomplishment
structure of group Clarifies tasks completed and tasks Evaluates gain made from group experience
Establishes a contract still to be done Makes objective appraisal of any goals/tasks
with the group Provides continuing support to not accomplished
Facilitates/supports task enable group to be self-directing Helps effect smooth ending of group
selection Helps group to work within time membership
Supports initial efforts of frame Helps the group with post-termination plans
the group Assesses gains in relation to goal as a self-help or mutual and aid group
Facilitates climate achievement
conducive to
unity/cooperation
 63
DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH
(Emmanuel Tropp’s)

❑ The group self-direction toward a common goal is the

most effective vehicle for the social growth of its
members.
❑ “People are not seen as being sickly or healthy, but on a
scale from socially functional (adequate), to dysfunctional
(inadequate), to eufunctional (optimum).
64
DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH
(Emmanuel Tropp’s)
Major Themes
❑ Humanistic- “What are the worker’s functions and
relations with the group?”
❑ Phenomenological- Concerned with the content of the
group. “What life materials serves as focus of the
approach?”
❑ Developmental- Provides the basic direction to the
approach for it answers the question. "What does the
approach seek to accomplish with people in the group?”
THE INTERACTIONIST APPROACH- WILLIAM SCHWARTZ GAVGARCIA

Schwartz believe that the job assignment of social work in society for which it is held
accountable is to mediate the process through which the individual and society reach out
through a mutual need for self-fulfillment.

THE MEDIATING FUNCTION- key concept

The function of social work is to mediate the transactions between people and the various
systems through which they carry on their relationship with society- the family, the peer
group, the social agency, the neighborhood, the school, the job and others.

On the part of the social worker, the skills are “fashioned by two interrelated
responsibilities”

1. helping each individual client negotiate the system immediately crucial to the
problems

2. helping the system reach out to incorporate the client, deliver its service, and
THE INTERACTIONIST APPROACH- WILLIAM SCHWARTZ GAVGARCIA

Diagram shows the impetus of the client (individual or

group) toward the system with which it is in interaction
and the system (family, group, school, or agency) towards
its member or client.

Relationship between two systems is symbiotic (with each

needing the other for its own life and growth, and each
reaching out to the other with all the strength it can
command at a given moment

The social worker is the third party whose skills are

mobilized to help the client and the system overcome the
difficulties which block such engagement.
Uses approaches which may involve conflict,
cooperation, confrontation, negotiation (CCCN)

The demand is for a realistic exchange between the client

and the system rather than for conciliation.
 67
INTERACTIONIST APPROACH
(Willian Schwartz)
❑ There is a symbiotic relationship between people and their
environment, and therefore, the function of social work is to
“mediate the process through which the individual and society
reach out to each other through a mutual need for
self-fulfillment.
System
Client
Group,
Individual
Agency or
or Group
other

Social
Worker
68
INTERACTIONIST APPROACH
(Willian Schwartz)
PHASES:
▸ The “Tuning In”
▸ The Beginning
▸ The Task
▸ Transition and Endings
THE INTERACTIONIST APPROACH- FOUR PHASES OF WORK GAVGARCIA

THE TUNING IN Preparation –for-entry phase which requires the worker to understand the group (member’s feelings, doubts about their
own selves, about each other and about the worker)
Valued outcome is the worker’s ability to “tune in” to the coded messages and disguised meanings through which
the members will be communicating their messages as they work together

THE BEGINNINGS Worker moves into the group and asks both the group and the agency to be clear on their conditions of work
Heart of this phase is the contracting process
Valued outcome is an opening consensus (from the members, on what they need, and from the worker, on what the
agency offers
Worker wants a partialization of task (breaking down the work to be done into some of its specifics
Assists the group in some of the ground rules and procedures designed to facilitate problem-solving

THE TASKS Middle phase

Search for the common ground between the needs of clients and of those of the systems the have to negotiate
Detecting the challenging obstacles that come between the members and their systems
Worker’s contributing ideas, facts, and values that may be useful
Worker’s sharing of her own vision of the work, feelings about the process, and faith in client’s strengths
Worker’s defining of the limits and requirements of the situation in which the work takes place

ENDING AND Members make the ending a serious part of their work together, attentive to what is happening to them and learning
SEPARATION from it as they have learned from the events of the previous phase
Ending work should have substance as well as feeling, therefore an important aspect of their contract
 70
INTERACTIONIST APPROACH
(Willian Schwartz)

Worker’s skills come from two interrelated responsibilities

❑ Helping each individual client negotiate the system immediately
crucial to the problems
❑ Helping the system reach out to incorporate the client, deliver
its service, and thus carry out its function in the community.
 THE REMEDIAL APPROACH- ROBERT D. VINTER GAVGARCIA

Focuses on the guided group processes in treating and rehabilitating individuals whose behavior is
disapproved or who have been disadvantaged by society

Include the physically or mentally handicapped, legal offenders, emotionally disturbed, isolated or alienated
persons, and those lacking in effective socialization

Based on the theory of groupwork as “social treatment” (conceptualized during the early 1960s by Robert D.
Vinter and colleagues at University of Michigan

Conceived as a small social system whose influences can be guided in planned ways to modify client
behavior

Vinter considers the group session to be of fundamental importance (the group is both a means of treatment
and context of treatment)
As a means- vehicle through which the peer interactions and influences can be used to affect client
participants
As a context- provides opportunities for direct worker-client interactions which can help to effect change

Group members may be helped to change the external realities that adversely affect its members
 72
THE REMEDIAL MODEL
(Robert D. Vinter)
❑ Concept of group work as a social treatment.
❑ Small social system whose influence behavior. Social forces
generated within small groups are used deliberately to pursue
goals for client change. The worker influences the group’s
composition, development, and processes.
❑ “a means of treatment”- serves as a vehicle through which peer
interactions and influences are used to affect group members.
❑ “a context for treatment”- it provides opportunities for direct
worker-client interactions which can contribute to change.
THE REMEDIAL APPROACH- THE TREATMENT SEQUENCE GAVGARCIA

INTAKE Potential client achieves client status

Client presents himself or his problem or need
Involves assessment of the client and the problem (preliminary diagnosis) and resources available to
resolve the problem

DIAGNOSIS AND More comprehensive and exacting assessment by the worker

TREATMENT Preliminary statement of the treatment goal and preliminary plan
PLANNING Worker’s writing of concrete statement (assessment)
Objectives to be pursued and ways which they will be implemented

GROUP Worker assigns client to groups, putting together in the same group persons she believes can be served
COMPOSITION AND together
FORMATION Purposes of the group are set in accordance with the treatment goals for the individual members
Worker establishes relationship with the group members and helps the group to start its program

GROUP Worker seeks emergence of group goals, activities, and relationships

DEVELOPMENT Worker guides the group’s interaction and structures
AND TREATMENT The individual treatment goals will determine the particular nature and degree of group cohesion, client
self-determination, governing procedures, and type of program they will undertake

EVALUATION AND Terminated when treatment goals have been achieved

TERMINATION Review of the progress made by each member
Estimation of whether continuation of the group would be worthwhile.
Worker to return to the original diagnostic statements or treatment goals for evaluation
 74
THE REMEDIAL MODEL
(Robert D. Vinter)
STRATEGY OF INTERVENTION
A. Direct Means of Influence- interventions to effect change
through immediate interaction with a group member.
✔ Worker as a central person
✔ Worker as symbol and spokesman
✔ Worker as motivator and stimulator
✔ Worker as executive-controller of member’s role
THE REMEDIAL APPROACH- GAVGARCIA

STRATEGY OF INTERVENTION-
Approaches and techniques that will help achieve the expected treatment outcome
Several modes of intervention or means of influence

2. Direct Means of Influence

Interventions to effect change through immediate interaction with a group member
Face-to-face contact may be in or outside the group sessions

4 TYPES OF DIRECT INFLUENCE

A. worker as a central person- worker is the major source of influence because of her position and psychological
effect on the members (who the worker is and how worker interacts with the members).
B. worker as symbol and spokesman-agent of legitimate norms and values- worker personifies these values and
norms and workers speaks of them or sometimes creates them for newly formed groups.
Sets limits and controls on individual and group behavior and applies positive or negative
sanctions, including ejecting if necessary.
C. worker as motivator and stimulator-definer of individual goals and tasks- resources (group activities, props, or
objects) can be controlled and incentives or rewards, interaction techniques (encouraging, suggesting, proposing,
expressing enthusiasm) can be used to motivate and stimulate clients
D. worker as executive controller of members’ roles- worker assists member in the discharge of a given task, assists
members to perform more effectively or differently in a given position, or changes a member’s role behavior by raising
his/her self-esteem.
 76
THE REMEDIAL MODEL
(Robert D. Vinter)
STRATEGY OF INTERVENTION
B. Indirect Means of Influence- interventions that modify group
conditions affecting one or more group members.
✔ Group Purposes
✔ Selection of group members
✔ Nature of group activities
✔ Size of group
✔ Group operating & governing procedures
✔ Group Development
 THE REMEDIAL APPROACH- GAVGARCIA

STRATEGY OF INTERVENTION-
2. Indirect Means of Influence
Modify group conditions
Worker acts on through the group processes, and its program
b. Group purposes- the purpose for which the group was formed (activity group, orientation
group, discussion group, diagnostic group)
-the purpose set for the group determine worker’s actions which affect the group, shape the group’s
program and activities, and affect client’s attraction to and satisfaction with the group
b. Selection of group members- worker’s goals and purposes for the group serve as general guide
for group composition.
- why the group was established and what it is expected to accomplish are determinants of
membership selection
-compatibility and complementarity of personality attributes and interests are consideration in
group membership
c. Size of group- worker must determine the approximate size
d. Group operating and governing procedures-
e. Group development- worker must act continuously to effect treatment at any given moment
-facilitate long-term development of a cohesive and viable group
 78
THE REMEDIAL MODEL
(Robert D. Vinter)
STRATEGY OF INTERVENTION
B. Extra Group Means of Influence- many events and processes
occur outside the treatment group even outside treatment.
✔ Social roles and relations of clients prior to client
✔ Significant Others
✔ Social system of which client are members
✔ Social environment of the treatment group
 THE REMEDIAL APPROACH- GAVGARCIA

STRATEGY OF INTERVENTION-

3. Extra group of Influence

Refers to the modification of the behavior or attitudes of persons
in the client’s social environment or large social systems within
which both clients and other individuals occupy statuses which may in
turn lead to positive changes in the group member’s own behavior and
attitudes.

Exerted to parents, teachers, employers, institutional staff, or anyone

else whose influence is important to the client’s social functioning
80

THE CRISIS INTERVENTION APPROACH

Being used with individuals, families, groups and

communities that are in a state of disequilibrium because of a
crisis they have experienced
The term “CISD” or Crisis Incident Stress Debriefing which is
form of crisis intervention has become popular in the country
and many social workers are being trained in it because it has
been found to be very helpful particularly for victims of
natural disasters.
81

THE CRISIS INTERVENTION APPROACH

Crisis- is an “upset in a steady state” an emotional reaction
on the part of the individual, family, or group to a threatening
life event.
Crisis intervention- is a process for actively influencing the
psychosocial functioning of individuals, families and groups
during a period of acute disequilibrium.
In social work the Crisis Intervention Approach is associated
with the writings of Erich Lindemann, Gerald Jacobson, Gerald
Caplan, Howard Parad, Naomi Golan and Lydia Rapoport.
 82

THE CRISIS INTERVENTION APPROACH

MAIN ELEMENTS OF A CRISIS:
✔ Stressful event or precipitating stress
✔ Perception of stress
✔ Response phase
✔ Resolution phase
Crisis involves crisis-oriented, time-limited work. It should be
readily available and properly timed in order to be effective. It
must be accessible within 24-72 hours of request or “cry for
help”.
 83

THE CRISIS INTERVENTION APPROACH

PHASES IN CRISIS INTERVENTION
✔ Assessment
✔ Implementation of Treatment
✔ Termination
FOUR STEP APPROACH IN GROUP CRISIS INTERVENTION
The search for the precipitating event and its meaning to the
client.
The search for coping means utilized by the client
84

THE CRISIS INTERVENTION APPROACH

FOUR STEP APPROACH IN GROUP CRISIS INTERVENTION

The search for alternative ways of coping that might better
fit the current situation.
Review and Support of Client’s Effort to cope in New Ways
and Evaluation Results.
85

HELPING
PROCESS
 HELPING PROCESS
86

❑ Assessment
❑ Action Planning
❑ Plan Implementation
❑ Evaluation
❑ Termination
 HELPING PROCESS
87

PRE GROUP FORMATION

✔ Conceptualizing the Group Service
✔ Announcing the Group Service and Recruiting
Members
✔ Preparing Logistics
✔ Enlisting Community Support
 HELPING PROCESS
88

INDIVIDUAL-FOCUSED ASSESSMENTAND PLANNING

Assessment is also termed “social study” and
diagnosis” in the social work literature. It involves
information- gathering and analysis towards an
understanding and consequently a definition of the
need or problem of the client.
 HELPING PROCESS
89

INDIVIDUAL-FOCUSED ASSESSMENTAND PLANNING

Pre-group interviews/intake
Individual client profile
Group Intake
Case Assessment/Problem Definition
 HELPING PROCESS
90

ACTION PLANNING- is based on assessment and is the

outcome of assessment.
▸ Formulating Goals-where do I want the client to be at the
end of the helping relationship or what is it that I expect to
have been accomplished as a result of the helping
relationship?
-provide direction to the helping process and serve as the
basis for evaluating the effectiveness of the helping
relationship.
 HELPING PROCESS
91

Establishing specific helping plans- if there are

ends then there are also means to achieve them. In
social work, these are called intermediate goals,
objectives, interventive plans or action plans.
These are specific statements of what will be done
to achieve the defined goals.
 HELPING PROCESS
92

GROUP-FOCUSED ASSESMENT AND PLANNING

▸ Group Composition- refers to the selection of group
members and deciding the size of the group, two important
group-related tasks that have to be attended to by the
group’s worker.
Selection of members-is very important because the
members of the group, their behaviors and interactions create
the social processes that will later happen in the group.
 HELPING PROCESS
93

GROUP-FOCUSED ASSESMENT AND PLANNING

▸ Size of the Group-there is no hard-and-fast rule about what
will be a “right size” group. The purpose of the group is a
good general guide for deciding on the number of members
appropriate for a group.
Treatment oriented- not go beyond seven
Task Group- 15 members
Note the use of odd numbers 7 and 15.
 HELPING PROCESS
94

GROUP-FOCUSED ASSESMENT AND PLANNING

▸ GROUP FORMATION-is the process of getting a group
organized so that it can start to function and move toward
the attainment of its planned goals.
• Common group concern/problem
• Norms and rules
• Schedule and venue of group sessions
• Group Goals- SMART
-Members perspective -Group System Perspective
-Workers perspective (Group Goals)
 HELPING PROCESS
95

PROGRAM MEDIA – refers to the activities, verbal or

non-verbal, which the group engages in the purpose of
achieving its goals. Very important aspect of planning. The
selection and use of appropriate program media is one of the
social worker’s most important skills when working with
groups, a skill that involves imagination and resourcefulness,
among other things.
 HELPING PROCESS
96

PLAN IMPLEMENTATION- refers to all activities, worker

intervention and group action which the group system directs
toward the achievement of individual and group goals.

Werner Boehm states that the concern at this stage is to

render all the specific and interrelated services appropriate to
the problem situation in the light of the assessment and
planning that have taken place
 HELPING PROCESS
97

ASPECTS OF PLAN IMPLEMENTATION

▸ Interventive roles of the worker
▸ Resources and services to be used
▸ Problems and constraints
 HELPING PROCESS
98

WORKERS STANCES DURING THE HELPING PROCESS

(Margaret Hartford)
▸ The Direct Stance- the worker assumes the major
responsibility for organizing and convening the group, as well
as in guiding the members, the group process, the
discussion, and the flow of ideas and emotion. He plays a
directive role in interventions or activities to enhance the
group’s development.
 HELPING PROCESS
99

WORKERS STANCES DURING THE HELPING PROCESS

(Margaret Hartford)
▸ The Facilitating Stance- the worker sees himself as a
member of the group, although one with special expertise
and different roles and functions from the group members.
He takes this stance when the membership has experience in
group participation, has social capability and some
independent strength.
 HELPING PROCESS
100

WORKERS STANCES DURING THE HELPING PROCESS

(Margaret Hartford)
▸ The Permissive Stance- this stance assumes that if correct
group composition has been made, and the purpose and
focus of the group is clear, the group will emerge because
the participants have come together.
 HELPING PROCESS
101

WORKERS STANCES DURING THE HELPING PROCESS

(Margaret Hartford)
▸ The Flexible Stance- this stance simply means that the
worker will change his stance in the course of a session over
a series of sessions, in response to the following assessment
of the progress of the group toward its objective, the needs,
capacities and behavior of members, the level of group
functioning and the problems of content or affect being
considered in the group.
 HELPING PROCESS
102

EVALUATION
Regular or periodic evaluation which period means the
on-going evaluation of actions taken during the period of
plan implementation which provides feedback and enables
the worker and client consider the progress in their efforts
and to modify these efforts if necessary.
Terminal evaluation which follows implementation and is
done primarily to assess the outcome of the helping efforts
so that next step, the termination of the helping relationship
can be affected.
 HELPING PROCESS
103

TERMINATION
Is the final step in the helping process. It should be
undertaken with the same care given to earlier stages.
Is done when the goals for the client have been
substantially achieved and there is no reason to expect that
nay more significant gains can be achieved by extending the
helping relationship.
 HELPING PROCESS
104

TERMINATION
▸ Pre-termination Phase- the group is prepared for its
imminent ending.
▸ Termination Phase- is the actual ending, which means the
last group meeting.
▸ Post Termination Phase- refers to the period after the
group ceases to function and involves plan to continue to
meet as a group if this is desired.
 Group Structure
and Processes in Social
Groupwork
Group Structure and Processes in Social Groupwork

A. Structure
▹ - the arrangement or interrelation of all the parts
of a whole
▹ - patterns that develop and maintain themselves
over time in interpersonal relations (Garvin and
Glasser)
▹ Formal (task groups, social action group can
have elected or designated leaders/officers)
▹ informal (therapy and/or treatment groups)
A. Structural
1. SIZE Properties of a Group
▸ refers to number of persons in groups
▸ sets limit on the amount and quality of communication among group members affecting their
interpersonal relations

▸ assures more direct and intensive communication among participants

2.COMMUNICATION STRUCTURE

▸ who interacts with whom about what

▸ inteaction may be verbal or non-verbal
▸ desired patterns of channels of communication is group-centered rather that leader-centered
3. AFFECTIONAL STRUCTURE

▸ evident in the process of interaction(acting and reacting):

 4. POWER STRUCTURE
A. Structural Properties of a Group
▸ some form of power/influence facilitates the group's organization, its
control and goal attainment
Source of influence:
a. reward power - power is based on B's (one member) perception that A
or the entire group has the capacity to deliver positive consequences or
negative consequences in response to B's behavior . ex. praise, token,
incentives, etc
b. coercive power - power is based on B's perception that A can inflict
adverse or negative consequences, or remove positive consequences in
response to B's behavior. ex. being admonished being deprived of certain
privileges
c. referent power - influence that A has, because of him/her being well
liked, and/or respected, which results in B's identifying with him/her
d. expert power - influence is based on the perception that A has expertise,
has some special knowledge or skills that can be trusted
e. legitimate power - influence resullting from a person's position in the
group and/or from certain responsibilities that go with the position
A. Structural Properties of a Group
5. LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE: theories as approaches to leadership:
a. Position theory - the leader occupies the topmost position and all others
below would be lesser leaders

▸ ways one becomes a leader: election, appointment or designation by a

higher authority or sometimes by taking control usually by manipulation,
and that gives a person authority or influence over people
b. Trait Theory - also called the "Great person" theory of leadership; assumes
that leaders have personal traits or characterictics that make him/her
different from other people
c. Style Theory
Authoritarian - leaders have absolute power, they set goals, and policies as
well ass major plans; dictate the activites of the members
Democratic - seeks maximum involvement and participation from the
members in all decisions affecting the group
Laissez-faire- characterized by leader's minimum input or participation
A. Structural Properties of a Group
5. LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE: theories as approaches to leadership
d. Situational Theory

▸ leadership is a function of the situation rather that the person or what she/he does
e. Functional Leadership Theory (or Distributed Functions approach to Leadership)

▸ leadership is viewed from a group perspective

▸ includes the setting of group goals, selection and implementation of tasks to
achieve the goals, provision of resources needed for improvemnet of group
cohesion
f. Interactional Model of Leadership

▸ equal focus/attention given to group, the worker as the designated leader, the
members, and the environment in which the group functions
A. Structural Properties of a Group
6. ROLE STRUCTURE

▸ Roles: refers to the socially recognied patterns of expectations of behaviros in the part
of a person in a certain position; helps us to interpret what a person is doing or trying to
do

▸ All groups rely on the performance by members of a variety of roles

7. GROUP NORMS

▸ In the process of interaction, norms or rules and standards of behavior emerge

▸ They indicate how members control each other, which behaviors are allowed and
which are not
8. STATUS

▸ refers to one's rank or standing in the group based on:

▹ - the person's closeness to the center of the web of communication in the group
B. Group Processes
▸ this is the interaction processes or what
goes on between and among members
while working, or the forces/changes
generated by the interactions
B. Group Processes
1. Conformity

▸ means yielding to the majority, or group pressure because of the need for approval
or not wishing to be different
2. Competition

▸ denotes rivalry, decreases creativity, coordination of effort, division of labor, helping

and sharing, and cohesion, promotes ineffective communication, suspicion and
mistrust, dislike among members and negative attitude towards the group and its
tasks
3. Cooperation

▸ denotes joint effort, increases creativity, coordination of effort, emotional

involvement in group accomplishment, helping and sharing
B. Group Processes

4. Decision Making
an integral stage in the total group problem solving process; alllows for pooling
of knowledge, attitude and resources of each member, motivates a member to
do his/her best
5. Group Think
a problem solving process in which proposals are accepted without careful
review of their advantages and disadvantages; powerful pressures are exerted
on a group member who voices objections to what otherwise appeared to be a
group consensus
B. Group Processes

6. Conflict
means a sharp dis-agreement or clash of ideas, interests, etc; at least 2
parties are involved and there is perceived mutually exclusive goals or
values between the parties

7. Group Cohesiveness
the degree to which the members of a group desire to remain in the group;
the result of all the forces acting on members to remain in the group
116